Central American migrants' ultimate dream is to return home

The Afternoon Shift hosts a conversation on the latest installment from the Front & Center series

October 23, 2012

Blythe Meyer

Christine Kovic is an associate professor of Anthropology at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Christine Kovic joined Afternoon Shift Host Rick Kogan to talk about the Central American immigrants who get caught up in Mexico on their way to achieving the American Dream. She has conducted research on human rights in Chiapas, Mexico for nearly two decades. Her current research addresses immigrant rights in Mexico and the United States.

Kovic shared the experiences of Central American immigrants who risk being arrested or deported and sometimes even death. But they believe the American Dream is worth the risk.

"The migrants I spoke with regularly talk about searching for the American Dream. But they mean something significantly different than what we mean when we talk about the American Dream here in the United States. They commonly explain that their hope is to make it to the U.S., find a job, work for a number of years and then return to their home countries, open a small business, perhaps purchase a home...but the hope is to go back."